Murphy came visiting a lot over the last few days, but by the end of today the wallboard ceiling panels in the sewing room are in place and in one piece. We have a wall yet to put up, but that only uses eight-foot pieces instead of the twelve-foot pieces we had to use for the ceiling, and I won’t have to fight gravity every step of the way. Working over my head to drive the screws was miserable, holding up a five-pound Milwaukee electric drywall screwdriver for fifteen or twenty minutes a go, but I still wouldn’t have been without it for the job. Those screws could NOT have been driven by hand, and I really, REALLY didn’t want to use drywall nails, the screws are so much better at holding up the sheets.
And we couldn’t have begun to do the job without Moon and her son B. Moon cut the rock beautifully, including ductwork and receptacle cutouts, worked out how to get the sheets on the drywall lift without breaking them, then directed the team of us getting them on the lift and hoisted into place. B served as intelligent muscle (a commodity that’s very handy to have in any construction project) all weekend. Now the ceiling’s up, L is ready to do the taping and floating over the next several days, and T and I can likely do a lot of the wall rocking. I took pictures during the demolition and construction process, and intend to make a Web page of the story if the photos turn out.
Moon and I surprised each other Sunday. I don’t know if anything will come of it, but I deeply hope it can.
M’s putative case of chicken pox turned out to be a minor foot-and-mouth virus that’s clearing up well. She’s gone back to day care, out of the way of construction. Her baptism is scheduled for Sunday at nine in the morning (Rite I service; her godparents and I Have Views about the Rite II liturgy). Tonight there was a minor commotion when we found her godfather has to be in Guadalajara on Sunday, but it turned out we can have a proxy to act for him, so all can go on as planned. T was confirmed last Sunday, and means to transfer her letter of membership to another parish as soon as she can after M’s baptism; she’s had it up to the tits with our parish and the way parts of it are run. I told her to transfer her letter if it would make her happier; I can’t see any reason she should have to stay with a parish she detests.
